Page:Law Enforcement Officers 1996.pdf/9

 Forty-three of the suspects identified had previous arrests and 38 had prior convictions. The records showed that 28 suspects had previous arrests for crimes of violence, 25 for weapons violations, and 18 for drug-related offenses. Of the 74 persons identified, 54 have been arrested by law enforcement agencies. Fifteen were justifiably killed (1 by victim officer), 3 committed suicide subsequent to slaying the officers, and 2 are fugitives. No suspects have been identified in connection with 2 slayings. Dispositions of 973 persons identified in connection with officers’ murders during the decade 1985S1994 were reviewed. Of the 973 persons identified, 789 were arrested and charged; 116 were justifiably killed; 1 was murdered in an unrelated incident; 56 commit-ted suicide; and 11 remain fugitives. Ten cases from that timeframe are still pending. Among those persons charged for whom final disposition is known, 72 percent were found guilty of murder; 9 percent were found guilty of a lesser offense related to murder; and 5 percent were found guilty of some crime other than murder. Nine percent of the suspects were acquitted or had charges against them dismissed, and 2 percent were committed to psychiatric institutions. One percent of the persons charged with the officers’ murders died in custody before final disposition was determined. Available data revealed that 113 of the 567 offenders found guilty of murder were sentenced to death, 257 received life imprisonment, and 194 were given prison terms ranging from 3 to 396 years. One was placed on probation, and 2 were given indeterminate sentences. Weapons Firearms claimed the lives of 92 percent of the 696 officers killed in the line of duty from

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1987 through 1996. Seventy-one percent of the murders were committed by the use of handguns, 15 percent by rifles, 5 percent by shotguns, and 8 percent by other weapons. Seventy-three officers were slain with their own weapons during the 10-year period. In the same timeframe, 164 officers fired their service weapons, and the weapons of 118 officers were stolen. More than half of the officers killed by gunshot wounds during this 10-year period were within 5 feet of their assailants at the time of the attack. Forty-eight percent of the firearm fatalities were caused by wounds to the head, 45 percent by upper torso wounds, and 7 percent by wounds below the waist. During 1996, firearms were used in 51 of the 55 slayings. Handguns were the murder weapons in 44 of the killings, rifles in 6, and shotguns in 1. Four officers were shot with their own service weapons. As in previous years, the most common handgun cartridge types used against officers in 1996 were the .38 caliber, .380 caliber, and 9 millimeter. These three weapons jointly accounted for 48 percent of the handgun deaths. Two officers in 1996 were intentionally struck by vehicles. One officer was stabbed with a knife, and 1 officer was strangled. Body Armor Of 244 officers wearing body armor when slain with firearms during the past 10 years, 155 suffered gunshot wounds to the head; 71 suffered gunshot wounds to the upper torso; and 18 suffered gunshot wounds below the waist. Of 71 officers killed by upper torso wounds, 37 officers were killed when bullets entered between the side panels of the vests or through the arm openings. Nineteen were killed by wounds above the vest area, and 11